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Who says nice decadent desserts are out of reach if you cannot have gluten in your diet?

By using gluten-free ladyfingers (broas), as a substitute, you can make a gluten-free version of this delicious Strawberry Malakoff dessert made famous French cuisine master and icon, Julia Child. It’s super easy to make!

1.) Slice the strawberries in half. Line your mold with wax paper, and place a circle of wax paper on the bottom of the mold.
2.) In a shallow dish with the orange liqueur, and water added, dip the broas one by one, and drain on a rack. Be quick about it, as gluten-free broas may easily crumble upon being wet.
3. Line sides of the mold with the broas. Reserve the remaining dipped ones.
4.) Cream butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in orange liqueur and almond extract until sugar is completely dissolved. Then beat in the almonds. Whip the cream until thick and fold the cream into the almond and butter mixture.
5.) Put a layer of cream into the lined mold. Arrange over it a layer of strawberries, heads down. Cover them with a layer of ladyfingers. Repeat with another layer.
6.) Repeat the process until the top of the mold is reached. At the topmost layer, trim off ladyfingers around the edge of the mold.
7.) Cover the top with wax paper, place a flat tray, and add weight over it. Refrigerate for at least hours so the butter is chilled firm to not collapse when un-molded.)
8.) Peel off the wax paper on top. Reverse dessert onto a chilled serving platter. Refrigerate until serving.

Optional: Decorate the top with strawberries, add whipped cream or strawberry sauce.

To avoid gluten, you basically need to stay away from its sources: wheat, barley, rye, and triticale. But in a world where cross-contamination and food additives are a norm, here are some quick and useful tips to keep your gluten-free shopping and meal planning a breeze. Have this ready in your back pocket at all times to keep safe against gluten.

Go Natural

Fruits: fresh, frozen or canned.

Double-check: For dried fruit, check the label for gluten-containing additives

Vegetables: fresh, frozen, or canned.

Double-check: Frozen potatoes are not always gluten-free. Read the label for additives.

Befriend the Label

FDA only allows packaged foods with less than 20ppm of gluten to be labeled “gluten-free”, so checking for the label would be a good rule of thumb. But even without the gluten-free food stamp, some packaging already add helpful information on their labels, so you may know which ones to stay away from. Check also for information if it has been manufactured in the same facility that also processes food containing gluten, or if the product may contain gluten.

Know What To Look For

BUT without the gluten-free label still in most packaged foods today, grocery shopping can be a much more complicated task than we may like. To make it easier, first, check for obvious gluten sources:

Wheat

Barley

Rye

Triticale

Malt

Brewer’s yeast

Oats (unless specifically labeled gluten-free)

Then, the less obvious terminology that means the same :

Triticum vulgare (wheat)

Triticale (cross between wheat and rye)

Hordeum vulgare (barley)

Secale cereale (rye)

Triticum spelta (spelt, a form of wheat)

And look for the following terms represent ingredients that always contain gluten:

Pasta is one of the easiest and quickest meals to prepare. Thankfully, we have a lot of options for gluten-free pasta, that can help make our meal preps a breeze. Why not try these excellent recipes for this week? You can get a selection of gluten-free pastas and noodles from your local grocery, or order some here for delivery to your home.

Creamy Cauliflower Alfredo Fettuccine with Bacon

Bacon lovers will love this pasta recipe. Good Alfredo is rich and as a consequence fatty. But not this recipe. It uses cauliflower puree. Not sure where to get some? You can purchase cauliflower pieces for easy pureeing here .

Heather Cristo is a great source for allergen free recipes, and beautiful content. We love her curated and mouth watering editorial food photos. Try this recipe and other gluten-free recipes.

If you are in the mood for wholefoods through and through, try this pasta recipe of zucchini noodles, spinach, tomatoes, pesto and fresh zesty ingredients. Quick and easy to make, and you can take pride in the fact that you made everything from scratch. You can substitute zucchini with carrots for an equally healthy and colorful plate.

Who says lasagna is off limits on a gluten-free diet? With a little imagination this recipe came up with an excellent one layering eggplant instead of gluten formed pasta. It’s yummy, definitely healthy and gluten-free!

Edamame is a healthy bean (young soy), and a great alternative to making regular semolina made pasta. This simple clean recipe really makes its flavor shine. You can order Edamame pasta for delivery on this link.

Not really a pasta recipe, but we can be a little lenient with this delicious virtually zero calorie dish that is gluten-free as a bonus. It uses shirataki noodles, miracle noodles for those avoiding calories, carbs (and also gluten) that is made of water and konjac plant. It is rich in glucomannan, which is a dietary fiber that is easily dissolved in water. You can buy shirataki noodles here for delivery.

Sushi restaurants have an abundance of items on the menu that is naturally gluten-free: predominantly composing of seafood and fish, rice and vegetables.

With that said, there are also many items on the menu that can be a source of cross-contamination during the preparation of these naturally gluten-free items – things like flour and panko used for breading of pork and chicken cutlets, and soysauce, among other things.

And so to make sure your sushi dining experience remain unspoiled by gluten, here are some tips you may want to follow:

Avoid fake crab meat. Surimi or fake crab meat are made by grinding white fish and binding it with starch that are usually made of wheat. This can be found in abundance in different sushi rolls, salads and other menu items, as flavoring.

Ask for Tamari instead of the regular soy sauce. Soy sauce brands unless labeled gluten-free are risky for those avoiding gluten since the soy that is used in these has a high chance of being also processed in a facility that also process wheat, barley or rye, or it may have wheat in its primary ingredients. Thankfully there is a type of soy sauce traditionally made without wheat called Tamari. To help with communicating, you can inform the chef that you are extremely allergic to soy sauce so that it will be easier for them to take away an item that is common knowledge, rather than launching into explaining in detail what gluten is.

Avoid tempura, breaded meat cuts, and other menu items that have breading. The batter used in making tempura will almost always be made of wheat flour, except for gluten-free restaurants that guarantee using gluten-free breading. Thankfully these items are easily recognizable on the menu, being coated and fried .

Avoid sushi ingredients that have been treated with marinades. Almost for certain, these items will have used either wheat, soy sauce , teriyaki sauce or other wheat containing sauces as flavoring.

Bring your own wasabi. Most restaurants do not use real wasabi, but instead use a mixture of mustard, horseradish, green coloring and other flavorings that may contain gluten. To be safe from contaminants, it is best to bring your own.

If you have the option, spring for a restaurant where the sushi chef makes the meal right in front of you. You may speak to the chef or call in advance to make sure the utensils that will be used for your meal are fresh and have not touched other items that contain gluten.

Japanese restaurants like other restaurants can be busy, to be on the safe side, you may also call the restaurant in advance to make sure that the restaurant will be fully staffed, and can take time to accommodate special food requests.

Let us know how your next sushi dining turns out! If you have more tips to share with our community, feel free to leave some in the comments. Happy gluten-free dining!

People who have gluten sensitivity, gluten intolerance or Celiac disease have different reactions, compared to the next person, when they ingest gluten. Symptoms range from diarrhea, bloating, headaches, nausea other symptoms. Which is why it is necessary for these people to switch to a gluten-free diet. People who don’t have these problems, on the other hand, do not have to worry about gluten in their diet.

But as of late, we increasingly read about and hear concerns about gluten. We see restaurants giving gluten-free options, food labels in groceries announce they are gluten-free, and gluten-free versions of food seem to be lining the grocery aisles. Increasing number of people try it with different benefits in mind: to lose weight, treat autism, eat more healthily, have more energy. Going gluten-free has rapidly become the next “IT” diet.

But what is the gluten-free diet really, and what is it for? Gluten is a general name for proteins found in wheat, barley, and rye, and triticale, a hybrid of wheat and rye. As these proteins cannot be fully ingested by the body, it can cause inflammation and other negative symptoms in some people. In people with Celiac disease, these proteins trigger an immune response which damage the lining of the small intestines, eventually preventing efficient nutrient absorption from food, and can cause a number of other problems like osteoporosis, nerve damage, and seizures. A gluten-free diet is one where you remove gluten so if you do have these reactions to gluten, you avoid these negative symptoms altogether. [1]

“People who are sensitive to gluten may feel better, but a larger portion will derive no significant benefit from the practice. They’ll simply waste their money, because these products are expensive,” says Dr. Daniel A Leffler, director of clinical research at the Celiac Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston in an article published in Harvard.edu.[1] And he is not wrong. So, before you try this diet, consider these things:

Premium Price

Gluten-free products, aare typically produced in smaller batches, and need different ingredients than their conventional counterparts. Ingredients may cost more, and making them need special knowledge on gluten-free food, and so they tend to be priced higher than their non-gluten-free versions.

Eat Healthier with More options

Most people may experience a number of health benefits with going gluten-free. But these could be incidental benefits since avoiding certain elements in your diet may also lead you to eliminate other foods. You may find yourself eating more wholefoods, fruits and vegetables, as opposed to the usual processed food, pastries, pastas and cakes that generally all contain gluten. You may also find yourself being more careful about additives in your food which can lead to eating a lot cleaner. But if you think about it, these are things you can actually do even without worrying about gluten in your diet, and you get to have a lot more food options, too.

Find More Effective Sustainable Options for Losing Weight

Those who claim gluten-free diet helped them lose weight or have more energy benefit from it by incidentally removing processed food from their diet, regardless of gluten content. Gluten-free food and weight loss are not synonymous, unless it helps you to “get rid of the junk” and eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains that are naturally gluten-free, as mentioned by Shelley Case, one of North America’s premier experts on the gluten-free diet. [2] With that said, there are other diets out there that are targeted for weight loss, which you may consider and prove more effective for you.

Have a question about going gluten-free? Feel free to leave it for us in the comments, or browse this blog for more tips!

It’s the second month of 2019. How are you holding up on your gluten-free diet? 🙂

We know. Taking on a diet that is different from everyone else’s can be a challenge.

Being diagnosed with Celiac disease, or non-Celiac gluten intolerance is a positive development, since formerly mysterious symptoms that you experience can now be controlled, and you can finally take charge and live a healthier life. But with this new realization come emotions that you also in a very real way have to battle with on a daily basis: from frustration of not being able to eat what you want, to the anxiety of being excluded.

So, how do you cope?

The Restaurant Anxiety

You don’t want to be thought of as a picky eater. As a matter of fact, you want other people to be comfortable around you while dining out. Or at least, not to be a consideration for others all the time, whenever you are dining out with friends or co-workers. This can be a cause of major anxiety for someone new to a diet not adhered to by most people around them. The feeling of social exclusion can be wearing.

How to Deal:

Consciously and actively remind yourself of the positive effects of taking on your new diet. You would no longer have to deal with the symptoms such as headaches or diarrhea, and you are actually doing something to be healthy. Keeping a journal to write down things you are grateful for in this diet, can be a major help. If you are not used to journaling, simply creating a bulleted list tucked away in your phone, which you could peruse when you feel anxiety bubbling up, could be the difference between an anxious lunch and a relaxed one.

If you are not yet very skilled in scouting what’s gluten-free on a standard menu, make some time to know which Gluten Free restaurants are in your school or around your workplace. In a group setting, there will almost always be a pause to consider where the group is dining out. Occasionally be the one to suggest a place where you know there are options for you. A place where people with regular diets can be comfortable, too. Focus on the fact that you are simply suggesting somewhere to eat, not being picky. Other people may even thank you for being quick about it.

Frustration: I can no longer eat everything I want.

Frustration of not being able to eat what you want is one of the major emotions to deal with when first starting out on a gluten-free diet. You have done your research and now have the list of what to eat nailed down. But along with that is acquiring an even more vast knowledge of what you cannot have. Watching other family members chow down a nice regular sandwich or that delicious cake is an experience you will be very familiar with.

How to Deal: Realize that flavor is not synonymous with gluten. There are delicious gluten-free options available for you, as well. As you get more acquainted with this new diet, you will very soon try a myriad of different food options that will be very agreeable with your taste buds, as well as your diet. Food that you will even crave for. That sandwich? You can have one at home with your own gluten-free bread. That cake, well think, “I’ll buy one from that gluten-free place I know, or even make it one better: I will make one myself in that yam flavor I cannot get just anywhere. It will be delicious.”

The Grocery Battlefield

Unarmed, it can be very intimidating walking into a grocery store not knowing what to put in your shopping cart. Looking at the back labels of food can make your grocery shopping take twice as long. It can leave you shrouded in misery going up and down the aisles looking for but not finding exactly the things you need. It’s not unusual to feel yourself welling up with the overwhelming emotion and stress of it all.

How to Deal: Firstly, know your enemy. You can read our previous post on what to watch out for in a Filipino grocery store, such as stealth gluten. Being fluent in gluten vocabulary can immediately shrink the stress of complicated food label reading in half. Easily spot gluten, and easily eliminate it. You can also make this chore more convenient by first doing some scouting online. You can have gluten free food delivered to you at home from shops that offer a wide range of gluten-free options and can drop it right to your doorstep.

Being on this new gluten-free diet is a definite change and you would have to deal with different emotions that go along with it. But at the end of the day, what would make this gluten-free transition a lot easier for you is allowing yourself to lean into them. Everyone on this diet will have similar experiences as you. Just like gluten in your diet, you can take control of it and soon eliminate them from your life.

How do you deal with your own emotions in this diet? Feel free to share it with us in the comments! 🙂

Christmas and the accompanying food festivities are fast approaching. It is tough enough that we have to look for gluten-free options for the holidays. But to shop for a great gift for someone who is gluten-intolerant? It can be another challenge altogether. Why not give them this perfect gift? This is a Gluten-free gift set made especially with yours and their needs in mind:

Gluten-Free Holiday Gift Set

Each bag contains:

Gluten-Free Seasoning

Gluten Free Spaghetti

Gluten-Free Zero-Calorie Noodles

Fruit Crisps (2 variants)

Organic Coconut Spread Seasalt

Lentil Chips Creamy Dill

These are great as giveaways: they can be kept at room temperature and so can be opened at anytime, perfect for storing in advance to be ready for your family events.

Have them delivered to you. If you want to create an element of surprise, the company that makes this can also deliver to your lucky recipient’s door.